1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for positioning a mobile device by using a Bluetooth signal, and more particularly, to a system and method for positioning a mobile device by using a Bluetooth signal, in which a location of a user carrying a mobile device is effectively determined by using the mobile device receiving a Bluetooth signal, and a method of positioning the mobile device.
2. Background Art
With the recent increase in the supply of Bluetooth devices, various services for determining a user location based on a Bluetooth signal have been developed. In particular, positioning methods performed using a Bluetooth signal have been developed to determine a position of a user indoors which is beyond the reach of a geographical positioning system (GPS) signal or to more accurately locate a user position than when using a GPS signal.
In a method of determining a user location by using a Bluetooth signal, a beacon that periodically transmits a Bluetooth signal is used. A range of a Bluetooth signal transmitted by a beacon is set as approximately 10 meters, and a distance between the beacon and a mobile device is calculated based on an intensity of a Bluetooth signal received by the mobile device receiving the Bluetooth signal. That is, the higher the intensity of a Bluetooth signal received by the mobile device, the mobile device is determined to be more proximate to the beacon.
The method according to the related art as described above is not suitable to be used as a service for determining a user position in practice. Users often cover mobile devices such as a smartphone with a phone case or sometime carry the mobile devices deep inside a bag. In particular, if a smartphone is encased with a metal-containing case, then Bluetooth signal reception sensitivity of the smartphone may be sharply lowered. In addition, if an obstacle is placed between a user and a beacon, transmission of a Bluetooth signal may not be easy, and thus, the mobile device may receive a weak Bluetooth signal. Depending on types of mobile devices, manufacturers set a low reception sensitivity of a Bluetooth receiving module when they release products. As such, there are various reasons that prevent mobile devices from smoothly receiving Bluetooth signals. A system for determining a location by using a Bluetooth signal, which is installed in the form of an application on a mobile device, is typically incapable of distinguishing between a weak Bluetooth signal weakened due to an obstacle and a weak Bluetooth signal intensity resulting from a distance from a beacon by using the method according to the related art. Accordingly, an error to incorrectly determine a mobile device to be far from a beacon even when the mobile device is very close to the beacon may be easily made. Due to this problem, an error of 10 meters or more occurs easily when determining a user location.
When providing advertisement or doing business by determining a user location or providing a service of providing various location-related information, if the user location is incorrectly determined with an error of 10 meters or more, it is almost impossible to offer a normal service. When a service based on the method of the related art is provided, user satisfaction regarding the service is also significantly lowered.